Callan Chythlook-Sifsof

Callan Chythlook-Sifsof (born February 14, 1989) is an American Olympic snowboarder who has competed in snowboard cross since 2005. She is a Yupik/ Inupiaq. She is the first native of Alaska to compete in the Olympics.

Biography

Early life

Chythlook-Sifsof grew up in Aleknagik (a rural fishing village of about 300 people, on the coast of the Bering Sea) and Dillingham, Alaska; she moved with her mother to Girdwood, Anchorage, Alaska to be closer to the Alyeska Resort. She is a Yupik/ Inupiaq Eskimo.

2006–14

In 2006, she was invited to her first Winter X Games competition and won a silver medal in 2011. She won the U.S. National Championships in Tamarack, Idaho, in 2007. In 2008, she won the Jeep King of the Mountain World snowboard series in Sun Valley, Idaho. Her best World Cup finishes were 3rd place in Furano, Japan, in 2006, and 2nd place in Arosa, Switzerland, in 2011. She did not compete in 2009 due to a knee injury.

It was announced on January 26, 2010, that Chythlook-Sifsof made the 2010 U.S. Winter Olympic Team. She placed 21st in the qualifying round of women's snowboard cross, and did not advance. It was the first time a native of Alaska competed in the Olympics.

In 2012, she had two top-ten World Cup finishes, but then suffered a knee injury that sidelined her for the rest of the season. In 2014, she retired from snowboarding after three back-to-back knee surgeries, and then injuring her knee again.

In February 2014, during the 2014 Winter Olympics, in Sochi, Russia, for which she did not qualify, Chythlook-Sifsof came out publicly as gay, saying she did so in support of ongoing protests of Russia's anti-LGBTQ laws. She stated "it's important to come out and take a stand and show the world that it's not OK to be a bigot."

2015–present

In February 2022, Chythlook-Sifsof made posts on Instagram during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics accusing Peter Foley, who coached the U.S. Snowboard team from 1994 to 2022, of sexual misconduct. She wrote, "I cannot watch another Olympic Games without saying this publicly." Foley denied the allegations. USSS immediately implemented an "athlete safety plan" that prohibited Foley from having "one-on-one interaction with female athletes," and from going into an athlete village. He was placed on leave by USSS on February 21, temporarily suspended by SafeSport, and then dismissed by USSS on March 20, 2022.Letter from the U.S. Senate
/ref> By August 2022, at least five women had made reports to SafeSport regarding Foley's behavior.

On August 8, 2023, after an 18-month investigation, SafeSport suspended Foley for ten years for sexual misconduct.

Awards

* ''Outsports''’ 2022 Female Hero of the Year.

References

External links

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Callan Chythlook-Sifsof
at U.S. Snowboarding
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Callan Chythlook-Sifsof
at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics (archived)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chythlook-Sifsof, Callan
1989 births
21st-century Alaska Native people
American female snowboarders
American lesbian sportswomen
Inupiat people
LGBTQ Native Americans
LGBTQ people from Alaska
LGBTQ snowboarders
Living people
Native American sportswomen
Olympic snowboarders for the United States
People from Dillingham Census Area, Alaska
Snowboarders at the 2010 Winter Olympics
Sportspeople from Anchorage, Alaska
Yupik people
X Games competitors
2014 Winter Olympics
21st-century American LGBTQ people
21st-century American sportswomen
Alaska Native women
American Inuit women
21st-century Inuit people
21st-century Inuit women